Prayers and Meditations — §108

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 108 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

كُلَّما مُنِعْتَ عَنِ الذِّكْرِ وَالبَيانِ ازْدادَ ذِكْرُكَ وَارْتَفَعَ نِدائُكَ وَكُلَّما حالَتْ بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَ العِبادِ حُجُباتُ أَهْلِ العِنادِ أَشْرَقْتَ بِنُورِ وَجْهِكَ مِنْ أُفُقِ سَمآءِ فَضْلِكَ، أَنْتَ القَيُّومُ بِلِسانِ اللّهِ العَزِيزِ المَحْبُوبِ وَأَنْتَ المَقْصُودُ بِما جَرَى مِنْ القَلَمِ الَّذِيْ بَشَّرَ العِبادَ بِاسْمِكَ المَكْنُونِ وَزَيَّنَ الإِبْداعَ بِطِرازِ حُبِّكَ العَزِيزِ المَنِيعِ، قَدْ قَرَّتْ عَيْنُ العالَمِ مِنْ طَلْعَتِكَ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

“The more they strove to hinder Thee from remembering Thy God and from extolling His virtues, the more passionately didst Thou glorify Him and the more loudly didst Thou call upon Him. And every time the veils of the perverse came in between Thee and Thy servants, Thou didst shed the splendors of the light of Thy countenance out of the heaven of Thy grace. Thou art, in very truth, the Self-Subsisting as testified by the tongue of God, the All-Glorious, the one alone Beloved; and Thou art the Desire of the world as attested by what hath flowed down from the Pen of Him Who hath announced unto Thy servants Thy hidden Name, and adorned the entire creation with the ornament of Thy love, the Most Precious, the Most Exalted.

Translation Notes

كُلَّما

k-l-l → ““The more” Distinctive

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

مُنِعْتَ

m-n-ʿ → “strove to hinder”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

عَنِ

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

الذِّكْرِ

dh-k-r → “remembering” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

وَالبَيانِ

b-y-n → “and from extolling” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

ازْدادَ

z-y-d → “waxed greater and greater”

literal: increase; excess; more; additional; to increase; to grow; to be added

وَارْتَفَعَ

r-f-ʿ → “raised”

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

نِدائُكَ

n-d-y → “didst Thou call” Distinctive

literal: call; voice; cry; summons; to call; to proclaim; to cry out; to summon

حالَتْ

ḥ-w-l → “came in between”

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

العِبادِ

ʿ-b-d → “Thy servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

حُجُباتُ

ḥ-j-b → “veils”

literal: to veil oneself, to be veiled

أَهْلِ

ʾ-h-l → “of the” Distinctive

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

العِنادِ

ʿ-n-d → “possess” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

أَشْرَقْتَ

sh-r-q → “Thou didst shed” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

بِنُورِ

n-w-r → “splendors of the” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

وَجْهِكَ

w-j-h → “light of Thy” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

مِنْ

m-n → “from”

literal: from; out of; than (preposition and particle)

أُفُقِ

ʾ-f-q → “heaven” Distinctive

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

سَمآءِ

s-m-w → “of Thy” Distinctive

literal: heaven; sky

فَضْلِكَ،

f-ḍ-l → “grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

أَنْتَ

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

القَيُّومُ

q-w-m → “Self-Subsisting”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

بِلِسانِ

l-s-n → “by the tongue”

literal: tongue; language

اللّهِ

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

literal: God; Allah; deity; Divinity; divine nature; godhood

العَزِيزِ

ʿ-z-z → “the All-Glorious”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

المَحْبُوبِ

ḥ-b-b → “the one alone Beloved”

literal: love; affection

المَقْصُودُ

q-ṣ-d → “the Desire”

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

بِما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

literal: what; which; that which; relative pronoun; interrogative

جَرَى

j-r-y → “hath flowed down from” Distinctive

literal: trade; commerce; business; to flow; to run; to be in effect; flowing

القَلَمِ

q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “which”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

بَشَّرَ

b-sh-r → “hath announced” Distinctive

literal: human; mankind; human nature

المَكْنُونِ

k-n-n → “hidden”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

وَزَيَّنَ

z-y-n → “and adorned”

literal: to adorn; ornament; beauty; adornment; embellishment; decoration

الإِبْداعَ

b-d-ʿ → “the entire creation”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

بِطِرازِ

ṭ-r-z → “with the ornament”

literal: ornament; adornment; embroidery; stripe

قَدْ

q-d

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

قَرَّتْ

q-r-r

literal: coolness; comfort; delight; comfort of the eye

عَيْنُ

ʿ-y-n

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

العالَمِ

ʿ-l-m → “of the world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

طَلْعَتِكَ

ṭ-l-ʿ → “countenance”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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59 ¶